Valve-gear mechanism for steam or other elastic-fluid engines.



H. FILLING. VALVE GEAR MECHANISM FOR STEAM OR OTHER ELASTIC FLUID ENGINES.

APPLIOATION FILED JUNE 23, 1913.

Patented Apr. '21, 1914.

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, H. FILLING. VALVE GEAR MECHANISM FOR STEAM OR OTHER ELASTIC FLUID ENGINES.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 23, 1913.

Patented Apr. 21, 1914.

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TED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY FILLING, 0E LANCASTER, ENGLAND;

VALVE-GEAR MECHANISM FOR; STEAM OR OTHER EIiAsTIc ELUID ENGINES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

PatentedApr. 21, 1914.

Application filed. June 23, 1913; Serial No. 775,309.

T 0 all whom it may concern Be it known that I, HENRY PILLING, a, subject of the King of Great Britain, residing in Lancaster, England, and whose post-oflioe address is Grlenderwyn, Manchester Road,

valves admitting steam or other elastic fluid to the working cylinders of engines, and particularly engines which in operation are subject to repeated reversals or stoppages,v

e. 9., rolling mill or winding engines, and the object of the invention is to provide means whereby the movement of a single controlling lever or handle can be made to operate the reversing or expansion gear and also the throttle valve according toa certain sequence of operations. A similar. system of control has been described in. British Patent specification No. 2613 of 1911, the sys tem constituting the present invention differing from the previous system by the fact that a relay de ice is provided which opens the throttle valve fully for maximum power independently of the speed of the engine,

and when the load on the engine 1s com' paratively small controls the closing of the throttle valve by the action of the reversing mechanism in such manner that the throttle valve is maintained as fully open as the momentary position of the reversing mechanism permits.

In the cycle of operations controlled by the single handling lever, starting with the lever in mid gear or neutral position and the engine at rest, the attendant first moves the control handle toward the position corresponding to latest cut off and during this movement the reversing shaft varies the cut off in correspondence with the position of the control lever. At a predetermined position of the reversing shaft, usually immediately before latest cut off, the throttle valve is opened very slightly, so as to admit throttled steam to the engine, and the latter begins to turn slowly and with a reasonably uniform motion.

Subsequent variations in the power and speed of the engine are effected by continuing the movement of the control handle in the same direction, therebybringing into operation a relay. device to open the throttle valve-fully, and; then returning the handle more or less toward the neutral position. During this return; movement the control handle does not. continue to influence the throttle valve directly, but causes the reversing shaft to move and so vary; the position of the cut off. The reversing shaft in turn influences the open throttle valve against the action of, a suitably applied yielding force according to the position of the cut oif, the said force operating to. cause the throttle valveat all times to be opened as fully; as the position of the expansion gear will permit. At or about mid-gear or the neutral position the expansion. gear entirely closes the throttle valve, which is restrained in this position until it is again opened slightly by moving the control handle to? ward the position of latest cut oif, as described at the beginning of the-cycle of operations.

The invention is illustrated diagrammatically in the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 showing an arrangement in which the relay device consists of a small fluid pressure motor, Fig. 2; being a similar view of. a modified arrangement in which this relay motor is replaced by a weighted lever; Fig.

3 shows almodified arrangement of handling lever which can be substituted forthat shown.

in Figs. 1 and 2, in which the lever. is so correlated with the remamder of the apparatus that 1t 1s movedbetween the same two positions whatever the direction of rotation Referring first to Fig; 1, the engine is,

started by, moving the handling lever from position 1, which is the mid-gear or neutral position, outwardly to position 2 or position 4:, according to the required direction of rotation of the engine. This movement of the handling lever, operating through a rod 6 connected, preferably elastically, with the handling lever and with suitable linl:-'

age 11, causes the power reversing mecha: nism which may, as shown,,cons1st of a steam cylinder 30 coupled with an oil or water cataract cylinder 31 operating through rod 12 and crank shaft 18 to move the reversing gear toward the position of latest cut off. At any predetermined position of the reversing gear, and usually before latest cut off, one of the rods 16 or 17, according to the direction of rotation of the engine, engages a lever 33 mounted on a shaft 18 hereinafter called the relay shaft so as to cause the latter to turn through a small angle, thereby slightly opening the main throttle valve of the engine or alternatively opening a smaller by-pass steam valve more fully. This enables throttled steam to be admitted to the main cylinders of the engine in sufficient quantity to turn the engine slowly under little or no load. Under these conditions, so long as the handling lever is left in position 2 or position 4, the engine will continue to turn slowly and reasonably uniformly without using much steam. When it is desired to increase the power and speed of the engine the handling lever is shifted still further in the same direction to position 3 or position 5, as the case may be. One effect of this is to cause a valve 22 to admit steam into a cylinder 23 hereinafter called the relay cylinder. The piston of this cylinder is consequently moved outwardly to the end of its stroke, carrying with it a lever or arm 24: which is fast on the relay shaft 18, thus moving the latter so as to open forcibly the throttle valve 15 to the full extent and thereby admit steam at full pressure to the main engine cylinders. The opening of the pilot valve to effect this result is arranged to occur after the handling'lever passes position 2 or position i when moving outwardly, a rod 25 pivotally connected with the lever 2 1v engaging a block 26 fixed on one arm of the bell crank lever 27 and causing this lever to turn upon its fulcrum thereby actuating the pilot valve 22, with the piston of which the other arm of the lever 27 is coupled, so as to admit steam to the relay cylinder 23.

The consequent rotation of the relay shaft 18 above described, acting through the rod 25, causes the lever 27 to turn still further in the same direction and thereby brings an adjustable projection 28 on the lever 2'? into engagement with the rod 25, depressing the latter against, the action of a spring so as to release it from engagement with the block 26. Further movement of the relay shaft in the same direction as before has then no effeet on the pilot valve of the relay motor. After the throttle valve 15 has once been fully'opened by the relay device as above de scribed, the speed and power of the engine are subsequently controlled by returning the handling lever toward its neutral or midgear position to a greater or less extent. This return movement of the handling lever causes the reversing mechanism to alter the position of the reversing shaft 13 and through a suitable connection to turn the lever 14E upon its fulcrum. This lever is coupled through rod 19 and a slot and pin connection 20, 21 with the lever 2 on the relay shaft 18. This pin and slot connection is designed to permit the throttle Valve to remain fully open during the return movement of the handling lever until a prearranged comparatively early cut off is reached, as well as to allow the reversing shaft to move toward the position of latest cut off when starting the engine before there is any opening movement of the throttle valve at all.

hen the reversing shaft reaches the position corresponding with the pre-arranged value of cut off, the rod 19 forces the piston of the relay cylinder 23 inward against the pressure of the fluid in the cylinder until the valve 22 is shifted, so as to exhaust the steam from the relay cylinder, by an ad justable projection 29 on the rod 25 coming 7 into contact with the crank lever 27 and thus rotating the latter sufiiciently to open the valve.

It will be seen that until the steam is exhausted from the relay cylinder as described, the closing of the throttle valve is opposed with a yielding force and the valve therefore remains as fully open as the position of the reversing shaft and the pin and slot connection 21, 20 permit. NVhen steam has been exhausted from the relay cylinder, the latter has no tendency to open the throttle valve 15 until the handling lever has been again moved to position 2 or position 4:.

As shown in Fig. 1 the piston rod of the relay cylinder is extended to carry a ram working in a hydraulic dashpot cylinder 32 which is provided with a clock valve 34 to permit a rapid and relatively unresisted return of the relay piston toward the neutral position. The springs 7 and 8 interposed between the rod 6 and the handling lever and linkage 11 respectively, are only required when it is desired to bring thergear have been designated by the same reference numerals used in Eig. 1, substantially the only difference being the substitution for the relay motor of a weighted lever. Starting with the handling lever in mid-gear, when the lever is moved outward the reversing shaft 13 is correspondingly shifted as already explained. At any desired position of this shaft, usually at or immediately before latest cut off, one of the rods 16, 17 encounters the lever 33 causing the relay shaft 18 to turn through a small angle and thus admit throttled steam to the engine. A further outward movement of the handling lever causes further rotation of the relay shaft 18 which in turn, through rod 25 displaces the lever or latch 22, thereby allowing the weighted lever 23 to drop, and through contact with a crank 24 on the relay shaft 18, forcibly rotates this shaft so as to open the throttle valve 15 to the full extent. A dash-pot 32 associated with the weighted lever 23 and having several by passes 32 and a non-return valve 34, is provided so as to enable the speed of descent of the lever 23 to be controlled in any desired manner. The engine is now working with high pressure steam at latest cut off, and further variations in the speed and power of the engine are produced as before by returning the handling lever toward mid-gear or neutral position 1. This return movementof the lever alters the position of the reversing shaft 13 which in turn, through lever 14, rod 19 and pin and slot connection 21, 20 causes the relay shaft 18 to take a position depending on the position of the reversing shaft, the connection of the weighted lever 23 with the relay shaft 18 being such as to keep the throttle valve 15 as fully open as the corresponding position of the reversing shaft 13 will permit. At or about mid-gear the end of the weighted lever 23 is lifted above the notch on the latch 22, which is then forced inward by a spring on the rod 25 to engage and hold up the weighted lever in the position in which the throttle valve 15 is closed, this valve consequently remaining closed until the handling lever has been again moved to position 2 or 4.

Instead of having the handling lever rigid with the lever 35, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, it may be coupled therewith, as shown in Fig. 3, in such manner that for either direction of rotation of the engine the handling lever will be moved from the neutral posi-' tion in the same direction and over the same are of a circle, thereby doubling the sensitiveness of the control for a given total range of the handling lever. As shown, the main handling lever 36 has rigidly attached to it a straight or curved slotted link 37 the central point of which is co-incident with the pivot axis 38 of the lever, and near the top of the latter is pivoted a small throwover handle 39 which is connected by a link 40 with a block 41 slidably mounted in the slot of the link 37. By means of the throwover handle 39, the block 41 can be shifted from one end of the slotted link to the other,

these two positions of the block corresponding with the forward and reverse directions of rotation of the main engine, and according as the block is in the one position or the other so will the lever 35 be rocked upon its fulcrum in one direction or the other through the medium of the rod 42 by which the slide block 41 is connected with the lever 35 when the main handling lever is shifted from position 1 to positions 2 and 3. This method of coupling the handling lever with the actuating gear of the control mechanism can be applied either to the arrangement shown in Fig. 1, in which the relay device consists of a steam-driven motor, or to the arrangement of Fig. 2 in which the relay device consists of a suitably controlled weighted or spring-loaded lever, or to the same general arrangement of apparatus in which an equivalent device such as an electric motor is used to perform the functions of the relay cylinder or weighted lever.

In Fig. 4 a supplementary knock-01f device is shown as applied to the handling lever mechanism of Figs. 1 and 2, but with suitable modifications it could also be applied to the arrangement of handling lever shown in Fig. 3. The handling lever 36 has an extension beyond its fulcrum which carries a toothed quadrant rack 43 gearing with a pinion 44 to which is rigidly attached an arm 45. Pivotally connected with this arm is a rod 46 which, at its other end, slides in a suitable bearing block 47 on the throttle valve link 48. This throttle valve link is connected through a rod 49 with an arm 50 fast on the relay shaft 18. The rod 49 is made in two telescoping portions which are coupled by a latch 51 urged by a spring 52 into the operating position. When, in the operation of the controlling mechanism herein described, the handling lever 36 has been returned to mid-gear or neutral position 1, if for any reason the relay shaft does not rotate sufficiently to close the throttle valve 15, the link 48 will stay at a position short of that corresponding to the closed position of the throttle valve, 5. 6., it will stay at a position to the left of that in which it is depicted in Fig. 4. In these circumstances a projection 46 on the rod 46 comes into abutment with the tail of the latch 51 and withdraws the latch from the operative position against the force of the comparatively light spring 52, thereby disconnecting the two halves of the telescopic rod 49 and enabling the throttle valve 53 or an equivalent weight, acting upon the throttle valve link 48, to close the valve 15 forcibly. When, later, the relay shaft 18 rotates to the closed position, the latch 51 automatically rengages and locks the two parts of the rod 49 together. In the case of the uni-directional handling gear illustrated in Fig. 3 the rod 40 through which the knock-off &

mechanism is actuated could be pivotally connected directly with the extension of the handling lever, instead of being coupled as shown in Fig. 1- through the rack and pinion 4L3, H and crank arm 45.

Having thus described the nature of this invention and the best means I know of carrying the same intopractical effect, I claim:--

1. In elastic fluid rolling mill engines, winding engines or the like, the combination of a valve for throttling the supply of motive fluid to the engine cylinder, a reversing or expansion gear, a single controlling lever, a relay shaft, control connections between the throttle valve and relay shaft, setting gear correlated with the relay shaft and expansion gear and controlled by the movements of the lever, said setting gear adapted while the lever accomplishes the initial portion of its movement from a neutral position to set the expansion gear to a position of late cut off and subsequently to turn the relay shaft and thereby open partially the said throttle valve, and a relay device correlated with and controlled by the move ments of the relay shaft and adapted to be set in operation when a further movement away from the neutral position is imparted to the lever, and to turn the relay shaft and thereby open forcibly the said valve to full extent.

2. In elastic fluid rolling mill engines, winding engines or the like, the combination of a valve for throttling the supply of motive fluid to the engine cylinder, a reversing or expansion gear, a single controlling lever, a relay shaft, control connections between the throttle valve and relay shaft, setting gear correlated with the relay shaft and expansion gear and controlled by the movements of the lever, said setting gear adapted while the lever accomplishes the initial portion of its movement from a neutral position to set the expansion gear to a position of late cut off and subsequently to turn the relay shaft and thereby open partially the said throttle valve, a relay device correlated with and controlled by the movements of the relay shaft and adapted to be set in operation when a further movement away from the neutral position is imparted to the lever, and turn the relay shaft and thereby open forcibly the said valve to full extent, and valve closing means connected with the expansion gear adapted to impart a return movement to said relay device, and thereby close the valve to an extent in accordance with the position in which the expansion gear is momentarily set by reason of a return movement of the lever toward the neutral position.

3. In elastic fluid rolling mill engines, winding engines or the like, the combination of a valve for throttling the supply of motive fluid to the engine cylinder, a reversing or expansion gear, a single controlling lever, a relay shaft, control connections between the throttle valve and relay shaft, setting gear correlated with the said throttle valve and expansion gear and controlled by the movements of the lever, said setting gear adapted while the lever accomplishes the initial portion of its movement from a neutral position to set the expansion gear to a position of late cut off and subsequently to turn the relay shaft and thereby open partially the said throttle valve, a relay device correlated with and controlled by the movements of the relay shaft and adapted to be set in operation when a further movement away from the neutral position is imparted to the lever, and to turn the relay shaft and thereby open forcibly the said valve to full extent, valve closing means connected with the expansion gear adapted to impart a return movement to said relay device, and thereby close the valve to an extent in accordance with the position in which the expansion gear is momentarily set by reason of a return movement of the lever toward the neutral position, and means correlated with the setting gear automatically operating when the control lever returns said gear to neutral position to lock the relay device in inoperative condition.

4. In elastic fluid rolling mill engines, winding engines or the like, the combination of a valve for throttling the supply of motive fluid to the engine cylinder, a reversing or expansion gear, a single controlling lever, a relay shaft, control connections between the throttle valve and relay shaft, setting gear correlated with the said throttle valve and expansion gear and controlled by the movements of the lever, said setting gear adapted while the lever accomplishes the initial portion of its movement from a neutral position to set the expansion gear to a position of late cut off and subsequently to turn the relay shaft and thereby open par tially the said throttle valve, a relaycdevice correlated with and controlled by the movements of the relay shaft and adapted to be set in operation, when a further movement away from the neutral position is imparted to the lever, and to move in a direction to open forcibly the said valve to full extent,

tion, a knock off mechanism actuated by the cont-rolling lever and adapted to operate automatically and cause the closure of the said valve in the event of the said valve closing means failing to operate.

5. In mechanism for controlling, by the movement of a single handling lever adapted to be moved from a neutral position to a position corresponding to latest out off and vice versa, the throttle valve for admission of elastic fluid to the working cylinders of rolling mill engines, winding engines or the like, means for controlling the torque of the engine comprising a normally inactive relay device operatively connected with the throttle valve, normally locked actuating means adapted to operate said relay device and thereby open the throttle valve fully and mechanism controlled by the handling lever adapted to release said actuating means when the handling lever is in the position corresponding to latest cut off and relock said actuating means, when the lever is returned to its neutral. position.

6. In mechanism for controlling, by the movement of a single handling lever adapted to be moved from a neutral position to a position corresponding to latest cut off and vice versa, the throttle valve for admission of elastic fluid to the working cylinders of rolling mill engines, winding engines or the like, means for controlling the torque of the engine comprising a rock shaft operatively connected with the throttle valve, and means for turning the rock shaft comprising a gravity lever normally locked in inactive condition and fixed to the rock shaft, mechanism controlled by the handling lever adapted to unlock the gravity lever so that the lever falls and turns the shaft to open the valve.

7. In elastic fluid rolling mill engines, winding engines or the like, the combination of a throttle valve for supply of motive fluid to the working cylinder, a reversing or expansion gear, setting gear correlated with the throttle valve and expansion gear and, mounted on a rocking lever, a unidirectional pivoted handling lever, adjustable mechanism operatively connecting said handling lever and rocking lever and adapted in one adjusted position to rock the rocking lever in accordance with the forward direction of rotation of the engine and in a second adjusted position to rock the rocking lever in accordance with the reverse direction of rotation, when the handling lever is shifted fro-m its neutral position.

8. In elastic fluid rolling mill engines, winding engines or the like, the combination of a throttle valve for supply of motive fluid to the working cylinder, a reversing or expansion gear, setting gear correlated with the throttle valve and expansion gear and, mounted on a rocking lever, a unidirectional pivoted handling lever, adjustable mechanism operatively connecting said handling lever and rocking lever and adapted in one adjusted position to rock the rocking lever in accordance with the forward direction of rotation of the engine and in a second adjusted position to rock the rocking lever in accordance with the reverse direction of rotation, when the handling lever is shifted from its neutral position, said mechanism comprising a slotted link fixed to the handling lever with the central point of the slot coincident with the pivot axis of the lever, a slide block mounted in said slot, a rod connecting the slide block and rocking lever and means adapted to shift the block to and fro from one end of the slot to the other.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

HENRY FILLING. Witnesses:

FRANK FOSTER, WILLIAM STARK.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

